Newsletter

Atlanta's embarrassment: A statewide concern

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal speaks about education reform, the political scene and expectations for the upcoming legislative session during an interview Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Tulis)

ELECTED AND appointed leaders in this area of Georgia earned passing grades for their preparations in advance of this week’s arctic blast, which fortunately struck here with more bark than bite.

If anything, people in Chatham, Effingham and Bryan counties were over-prepared for snow and ice, treacherous roads and possible electrical outages, in addition to sub-freezing temperatures.

But that’s not a bad thing.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry and prepare for the worst when it comes to weather calamities, even if it triggers modest inconveniences like panic buying at the stores, dealing with kids who don’t have school, not being able to catch a CAT bus or closing businesses temporarily.

Had area officials been caught with their snow pants down, they would have caught heat and deserved it.

To find a classic case of how not to respond to a predictable threat, look no farther than Atlanta and the epic traffic jam that brought a great American city to its knees.

What happened in and around our state’s capital was an embarrassment. But the repercussions aren’t confined to the big city. This calamity raises serious questions about the ability of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the statewide agency responsible for disaster preparation and response, to do its job along the state’s coast and elsewhere.

Community leaders in Savannah and elsewhere in Georgia must learn from the mistakes that were made this week and not fall into the trap of complacency. There but for the grace of God — and the polar vortex — could have been other inexperienced Sun Belt cities.

On Thursday, Gov. Nathan Deal did the right thing and accepted responsibility for Tuesday’s Snowjam ‘14 — or Gridlockalypse — which left thousands of motorists stranded on the metro area’s clogged roadways and forced children to spend the night in their schools.

Conditions were so miserable two days later that it caused the cancellation of Thursday’s Savannah-Chatham Day at the state capitol. That decision was proper, as it would have sucked hundreds of visitors from Georgia’s coast into a traveler’s worst nightmare.

“I am not going to look for a scapegoat,” Mr. Deal said Thursday. “I am the governor, and the buck stops with me.” He later added that “we did not have adequate preparation, and I do accept responsibility for that.”

That’s a much-improved response from his earlier reaction, in which he brushed off mounting criticism by arguing that he doesn’t control the weather and describing pre-storm responses as “reasonable.”

Tell that to the woman who went into labor on the side of I-285 or the parents whose small children slept on a gym floor. It’s true the governor can’t boss around Mother Nature. But as Georgia’s chief executive, he has plenty of other powers. He oversees a bureaucracy, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, whose primary responsibility is working with local, county and state government agencies to prepare for weather-related threats. As governor, he’s in a position to twist the arms of mayors, school superintendents, business leaders and other elected and appointed officials who serve the public.

Likewise, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was disappointing. He pointed fingers at school officials, businesses and other leaders for not staggering their closings Tuesday, which caused the metro area’s inadequate road system to go from green light to gridlock in less than an hour. If Mr. Reed has political ambitions beyond his city’s beltway, he must ditch the buck-passing act. Georgians have enough whiny, inert politicians in public office. They don’t need more.

Mr. Deal is right to call for a top-to-bottom review of this week’s disaster, which appears largely man-made.

The first place to look is GEMA, which should change its name to GEA. There was no “management” present. The photos of thousands of motorists stuck on Atlanta-area roads doesn’t build confidence in GEMA in this part of Georgia, where hurricanes pose annual threats and mass evacuations may be necessary.

Finally, here’s one of the most important takeaways from Atlanta’s ugly experience: Don’t be a sheep. Learn to exercise personal responsibility. Don’t be too reliant on government officials for help and guidance in the face of real threats.

Just because people have the power doesn’t mean they know how to use it.